What are the worst NBA Free Agency signings of the 2000s? Finding out more

NBA free agency can be tricky. There's no guarantee a breakout player or even a star can sustain the form and play he did on his previous contract. However, that's the gamble front offices have to make in the hopes of finding the best way possible to improve their roster.

Some were unfortunate, while others rushed into decisions and made poor calls offering an unwarranted lucrative deal. With the 2023 NBA free agency around the corner, we look at some of the worst free agent signings in the 2000s decade.

Worst NBA Free Agent Signings of the 2000s, including Gilbert Arenas, Ben Wallace and more

The salary cap began at $35.5M in the 2000s, which increased to $58.8 million by the decade's end. Due to this, several deals seemed way overpaid. Injuries or loss of form made it one of the worst contracts in league history.

Allan Houston's six-year, $100.4 million deal with the Knicks came in the 2001 NBA free agency after leading them to the finals as the eighth seed in 1999 and to the second round as the seventh seed in 1998. Houston was excellent the first two years of his deal, but injuries slowed him down.

He played a combined 70 games in his third and fourth season of the new deal. Houston didn't make a single All-Star appearance on that contract, although he did average a career-high 22.5 points per game his second year on that deal.

Kenyon Martin headlined the 2004 offseason of bad free agency contracts when he signed a seven-year, $93 million deal with the Nuggets. Martin played on a superstar contract but contributed as much as a top role player. He played only 371 games on that contract, averaging 12.9 points in the final six seasons.

Larry Hughes and Eddy Curry headlined the 2005 NBA offseason's worst deals. The former signed a $70 million five-year contract with the Cavaliers after a solid contract year with Washington. Hughes lasted only two-and-half seasons with Cavs, playing 141 games, averaging 14.3 points on 39.6% shooting.

Meanwhile, Curry signed a six-year $56 million contract with the Knicks, who offered him that sum, despite the player dealing with a heart condition he refused to get checked. He averaged a career-high 19.2 points in his second season of that contract but couldn't beat that again.

Curry showed up overweight in 2007 and fell out of rotation. He played just 10 games in his fourth and fifth season, before the Knicks moved him.

The Chicago Bulls' four-year, $60 million offer to Ben Wallace in 2006 is next on this list. Wallace was a four-time All-Star and four-time NBA DPOY, but he was way past his best when he signed that contract. The Bulls saw that in his first season alone after he averaged 6.4 points a game. He was traded to the Cavs the following year.

The 2007 offseason was headlined by arguably the worst free agent contract ever. Gilbert Arenas signed a six-year, $121 million contract with the Wizards, only to play 67 games on that deal. He was suspended after bringing a gun to the locker room, while injuries and loss of form also contributed to his decline.

The Orlando Magic offered Rashard Lewis a six-year, $113 million contract the same summer. Lewis was an All-Star his second season on that contract, but he couldn't replicate that form again. Lewis played for just three and a half years before getting traded. He averaged 16.3 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 2.1 APG with the Magic, significantly underperforming for the kind of contract he was on.

Elton Brand's five-year, $82 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers topped the list of worst contracts in the 2008 NBA offseason. Injuries dominated Brand's tenure in Philadelphia from the get-go. He played only 29 games in his first season in 2008-09. Brand could never replicate his success as a 20 PPG scorer, bagging only 13 points per game as a Sixer in his first stint.